Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Starfox characters; They are property of Shigeru Miyamoto and his character department. I have created new characters to fill in spaces that are needed in this story but were not in the game, although they will not, aside from perhaps a name mention, be featured in this chapter.

Through the dead silent black veil of nothingness known more widely than anything else as Outer Space, a gigantic white ship floated on, its engines roaring without a sound in the vacuum. Huge letters on the side, proclaiming what it carried within its breast to any passing ship, any user of a telescope from any distant planet, and the boldness of the letters proclaiming the power.


S

T

A

R

F

O

X

Although now, more than anything else in this existence, it carried within itself a grievance.

~Phantasm~

Almost as soundless inside as out...


"DAMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!"

WHAM.

A flourish of royal blue feathers drifting downward and a tiny grunt of pain accompanied the fist of Starfox Team Lieutenant Falco Lambardi as it slammed into the titanium-chromium alloy that made up one of the six enclosing sides of his room. He leaned his forehead against the wall as water began to well up just above the red eye-markings that were found in rare examples of the Avian race, but had been passed down to Falco through his mother's father. The tears rolled down his beak as he quietly cursed himself for being the biggest jackass this side of the galaxy.

"It wasn't your fault," a hesitant voice floated to his ears from behind him. Falco didn't turn around.

"Katt."

The pink-furred Felician nodded quietly, and though the Lieutenant couldn't see her movement, he somehow felt it.

"Bellatino let me in," she explained in a whisper. Falco's eyes darted to the side, his ears tracking her footsteps across the single sheet of material that made up the floor of his bunk. "He told me you were in here."

Falco chuckled weakly as he pushed himself off of his slump against the wall and turned, leaning his back against it, thrusting his chaffed hands into the pockets of his jacket. He tilted his head back and seemed to be gazing at the ceiling, though his eyes were closed.

"Slip's dad showed up?" He managed. He felt her presence settle against the wall a bit away from him, her normally flirtatious self totally and completely absent. She didn't have to strut about as usual as if they were lovers: Now she was doing what she had to by acting as what she really was, his friend.

"Everyone showed up," she stated. "Bellatino, Cleo, Mrs Mc-C, Bill Grey, Ystil -everyone." She sighed a little as the humming silence set in around them. "The only person who didn't come was the general, but he sent the leaders of both the Katinian Husky and Bulldog Units."

Silence.

"Bill would have come anyway," Falco said at length.

"I know," came Katt's immediate but gentle reply.

More silence.

Katt's lips moved quietly for a moment before any sound came out. "We should go... They're having a banquet in the hall in his honor... Before they..."

The silence continued. Katt watched as Falco inhaled slowly, deeply, head still pointed upward, leaning against the cool metal of the wall. A slightly bloodied hand snaked out of his pocket and ran across the medals that were pinned to the right breast of his jacket. They were all in the shape of the Starfox Team Seal, an "SF" seal with wings on either side. There were countless medals with green wings, and three large ones with wings of gold.

But Falco's fingers ghosted over the seven of red.

"Hey, Katt...?" He whispered hoarsely, without opening his eyes.

"Yeah?" She replied so quietly it may have been Falco's imagination. She closed her eyes as she felt Falco's larger form slump against her, his head buried in her shoulder, arms limp at his sides, as she felt her comrade's pain flow into her. She put a paw on his back, soothingly.

"I'm glad you came," he choked out. "I really am."

They stood in the perpetual silence like that, broken only by Falco's quiet sobs and Katt's Maa maa 's for perhaps a quarter of an hour. Then, slowly, Falco Lambardi pulled away from the comfort of his friend and drew himself up to his full, towering height. His tears still pooled in his eyes, but those eyes were now alight with a steely determination that could have melted a freighter.

"Let's go give ol' Peppy one last hurrah." Without looking back, he walked to the transport chute with determined strides, pressed "down", and went. Katt gazed after him for a moment.

"I can't believe that they're back," she whispered to herself now, as she, too, followed Falco to send off their fallen comrade.

~TBC~

Maa maa - A Japanese phrase that's sorta like, "It's OK, it's OK..." , meant to soothe.

Okie dokie, I find it really weird I never wrote a SF fic before this. Wait, I did. Starfox: Andross' Revenge was the first fanfic I ever wrote. It was written in a little blue notebook, and was extremely long. It was probably just as poorly written as it was dragging, as I was in fifth or sixth grade when I wrote it, but I still remember reading it to the neighbor's kids and their faces gleaming during the battlescenes and them even tolerating the mush.

So this is a total revamp of that story. More will be explained later on; This'll mostly be action, but it may also turn into a FalxKatt thing -it depends on what the reviewers want, ne?

~Akai, the President of the StarWing Team (back in fifth grade)